Latest / Antisemitism Watch / Antisemitism Watch - August 17, 2026, 05 PM Eastern

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Antisemitism Watch - August 17, 2026, 05 PM Eastern · Antisemitism Watch

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to antisemitism watch. I'm Rachel Adler. Today we're
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  Speaker 1: tracking concerning national trends in hate crimes, alongside significant political
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  Speaker 1: and campus developments. Federal Bureau of Investigation data for twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty five reveals a persistent high level of anti Jewish
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  Speaker 1: hate crime incidents. According to the ADL, While reported incidents
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  Speaker 1: decreased from the previous year fifteen twenty eight, anti Jewish
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  Speaker 1: hate crimes constituted sixty three percent of all religion based
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  Speaker 1: hate crimes nationwide, marking the third highest year on record.
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  Speaker 1: The ADL also documented sixty two seventy four antisemitic incidents
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  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty five, a thirty three percent decrease from
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  Speaker 1: the prior year, but still the third highest number since
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  Speaker 1: tracking began in nineteen seventy nine. ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblat
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  Speaker 1: highlighted that twenty twenty five was the deadliest year for
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  Speaker 1: antisemitic attacks in the Jewish diaspora in over three decades,
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  Speaker 1: with twenty people murdered. Globally, Vandalism remains the most common
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  Speaker 1: offense affecting synagogues and Jewish property. Amy Spittelnik, CEO of
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  Speaker 1: the Jewish Council for Public Affairs underscored that these statistics
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  Speaker 1: confirmed Jews remain the most targeted religious group. In a
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  Speaker 1: deeply personal incident, a Jewish woman in Alexandria, Virginia, reported
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  Speaker 1: being refused service at a salon. According to her account
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  Speaker 1: shared on social media, the owner subjected her to antisemitic remarks,
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  Speaker 1: denied Israel's existence, accused her of genocide, enchanted free Palestine.
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  Speaker 1: This incident highlights the pervasive nature of antisemitic bias encountered
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  Speaker 1: in everyday life. On accountability, Debbie Sasslaw, a former senior
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  Speaker 1: producer for New York City Mayor Zorin Mamdani's campaign, has
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  Speaker 1: retracted an earlier statement. The New York Post reported that
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  Speaker 1: Saslaw had initially claimed an attack at Manhattan's Central Synagogue
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  Speaker 1: was not antisemitic because the alleged assailant was Jewish. She
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  Speaker 1: later apologized, calling herself mistaken and panicked, after the suspect,
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  Speaker 1: Larry Montes, was arrested and charged with hate crimes, reportedly
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  Speaker 1: making antisemitic remarks during the incident. On the educational front,
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  Speaker 1: a report by United Jewish Teachers documented two hundred and
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  Speaker 1: fifty antisemitic and anti Israel incidents in New York City
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  Speaker 1: public schools between October twenty twenty three and July twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty six. According to the report, nearly two thirds were
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  Speaker 1: direct acts like harassment and threats. Mosch Spern, president of
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  Speaker 1: United Jewish Teachers, stated that current policies have failed and
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  Speaker 1: called for the adoption of the IHRA definition, mandatory NYPD investigations,
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  Speaker 1: and transparent tracking of incidents. Similar concerns are echoed internationally.
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  Speaker 1: Nearly all Jewish college students in Canada experienced antisemitism last year,
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  Speaker 1: according to Times Officrail. In a proactive step, the Rudermann
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  Speaker 1: Family Foundation and Project Schamah are launching an eighteen month,
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  Speaker 1: two hundred and twenty thousand dollars program targeting college campus administrators,
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  Speaker 1: counseling center staff, and educators. This initiative, set for the
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty six minutes two thousand and twenty seven academic year,
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  Speaker 1: aims to provide antisemitism education to help these professionals understand
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  Speaker 1: its impact on Jewish students. This comes as data shows
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  Speaker 1: eight hundred and sixty antisemitic incidents in New York City
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  Speaker 1: and nearly one thousand, two hundred statewide prompting Yeshiva University
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  Speaker 1: president Rabbi Ari Berman to discuss campus security preparations prior
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  Speaker 1: to the start of classes. As reported by vi And News,
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  Speaker 1: New York City Mayor Zorin Mamdani began a vacation amid
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  Speaker 1: ongoing scrutiny over the Central Synagogue attack and the controversial
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  Speaker 1: comments by his former campaign staffer, Debbie Saslaw. While Mamdani
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  Speaker 1: condemned the attack, critics, including the Israeli Consul general and
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  Speaker 1: the Rabbi of Central Synagogue, point to his past anti
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  Speaker 1: Israel rhetoric as potentially contributing to an environment where antisemitism
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  Speaker 1: can flourish. Jewish leaders reportedly pressed Mamdani on this during
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  Speaker 1: a recent meeting. According to reporting in The Algemeiner, in
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  Speaker 1: Florida's primary elections, attention is drawn to Republican candidate James Fishback,
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  Speaker 1: who has courted the grouper movement by embracing figures like
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  Speaker 1: Nick Fuentes and using terms like geislop, as reported by
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  Speaker 1: the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Meanwhile, incumbent Randy Fine faces challenger
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  Speaker 1: Daniel Bilzerian, who has used vile antisemitic slurs like fat
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  Speaker 1: jew and shylock against fine and denied Hamos atrocities. House
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  Speaker 1: Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority leader Hakeem Jeffreys jointly condemned
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  Speaker 1: Bulsarian's rhetoric, calling it disgusting and blatantly antisemitic. Elsewhere, doctor
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  Speaker 1: Abdel Elsaide's political orbit faces scrutiny. His staff have been
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  Speaker 1: indicted for a lleg threats and vandalism against pro Israel groups,
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  Speaker 1: as detailed by the researcher who wrote the article. Supporter
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  Speaker 1: Hassen Piker has downplayed Hamas atrocities, and Elsaide himself invoked
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  Speaker 1: the ancient blood libel against Israel. Michigan Attorney General Dana
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  Speaker 1: Nessel stated she does not feel safe attending the Michigan
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  Speaker 1: Democratic Convention due to antisemitic threats. In a notable media interaction,
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  Speaker 1: w PLG anchor Glenna Milburgh fact checked a DSA backed
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  Speaker 1: congressional candidate Oliver Larkin who accused Israel of genocide. Milburgh
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  Speaker 1: repeatedly called his assertion factually incorrect and propaganda, distinguishing it
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  Speaker 1: from legitimate criticism. Turning to international developments with direct implications
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  Speaker 1: for antisemitic rhetoric, Kalil al Haya, the newly elected head
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  Speaker 1: of Hamas Political Bureau, has made statements justifying the October
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  Speaker 1: seventh attack. According to ADL reporting, Al Haya views the
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  Speaker 1: massacre as a source of pride and a strategic choice
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  Speaker 1: anticipated to have devastating consequences for Gaza. He stated howmas
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  Speaker 1: goal was not governance, but to transform the conflict and
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  Speaker 1: reorder the regional agenda, acknowledging the anticipated big response to
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  Speaker 1: their great act. His remarks signal and intent to continue
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  Speaker 1: Jahad and resistance. The debate over America's political climate continues,
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  Speaker 1: with some commentator's warning of a descent into a new
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  Speaker 1: Weimar Republic. However, an analysis reviewed for this episode contests
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  Speaker 1: this analogy, arguing that the spread of antisemitism, particularly among
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  Speaker 1: gen Z, is less an ideological unraveling and more a
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  Speaker 1: form of mimetic contagion or social media imitation. This phenomenon,
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  Speaker 1: while different from historical extremism, is still considered dangerous on
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  Speaker 1: the policy front. A new report by the Institute for
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  Speaker 1: Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education IMPACTS indicates
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  Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia has removed virtually all antisemitic content from its
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  Speaker 1: text BOOKOKS for the twenty twenty five slash twenty six
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  Speaker 1: school year. This reform aligns with the Kingdom's modernization goals,
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  Speaker 1: with textbooks now reportedly promoting moderation, coexistence and tolerance and
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  Speaker 1: removing content that previously maligned Zionism and Jewish people. Conversely,
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  Speaker 1: the Pennsylvania Department of Education has adopted an equity glossary
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  Speaker 1: that references the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism. This definition states
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  Speaker 1: that opposing Zionism is not inherently antisemitic, a stance Jewish
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  Speaker 1: advocates Warren weakens protections against bigotry by treating Jewish students
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  Speaker 1: as proxies for Israel. In Australia, social harmony is reportedly declining,
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  Speaker 1: with a sharp drop in the sense of belonging and
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  Speaker 1: perceived benefits of cultural diversity. According to recent reports, the
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  Speaker 1: Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion is holding its
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  Speaker 1: final public hearings examining how to strengthen social cohesion. Factors
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  Speaker 1: like the pandemic, the Israel Ilhamas war and rising secularism
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  Speaker 1: are cited as contributing to polarization, alongside an explosion in
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  Speaker 1: antisemitic incidents. In case outcomes, a court has dismissed a
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  Speaker 1: Title VI lawsuit against Harvard University, ruling that antisemitic violations
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  Speaker 1: had concluded by March twenty twenty five. However, an analysis
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  Speaker 1: of the decision argues it wrongly equates quiet hate with compliance,
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  Speaker 1: pointing to a July twenty twenty six open letter from
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  Speaker 1: one hundred and seventy Harvard faculty in staff who reported
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  Speaker 1: that Jewish and Israeli students had gone underground, hiding their
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  Speaker 1: identities for fear of retribution. Finally a positive development, the
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  Speaker 1: second Annual Sephardic Rabbinic Conference convened in Manhattan, marking a
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  Speaker 1: recurring event for the Sephardic community. That's our report for today.
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  Speaker 1: I'm Rachel Adler. Thank you for listening to Antisemitism Watch.
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  Speaker 1: This report was generated with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies.
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  Speaker 1: Please verify important details with primary sources. MHM